Method and system for providing alternative result for an online search previously with no result

ABSTRACT

A computing device hosting a website of a business may be operable to receive a first search input comprising a term submitted via a search bar on the website. Upon performing an internal search for the term with no result, the computing device may output information on the no-result. The computing device may then perform, using one or more external search engines, a search for the term. Search results of the search, performed using the external search engine(s), may be analyzed. Based on a result of the analysis, one or more particular character strings related to the term may be identified. The computing device may generate and store, based on the identifying of the particular character string(s), one or more alternative search suggestions. Upon subsequently receiving an input comprising at least a portion of the term entered in the search bar, the computing device may output the alternative search suggestion(s).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

Not applicable.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

Certain embodiments of the disclosure relate to online query for anitem. More specifically, certain embodiments of the disclosure relate toa method and system for providing alternative result for an onlinesearch previously with no result.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Consumers often do online searches or queries via a website of aretailer or business for a product or a part of some apparatus. Forexample, a consumer or customer may type in a model number or a partnumber as a keyword in a search bar on the website. In instances whenthere is no match for the search, the customer may receive, in return,information or a message indicating “no result” for the search.Conventionally, if the same customer or some other customer searches forthe same model number or the same part number at some other time later,he/she will still receive the message indicating “no result” for thesearch.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with the present disclosure as set forth inthe remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

A system and/or method for providing alternative result for an onlinesearch previously with no result, substantially as shown in and/ordescribed in connection with at least one of the figures, as set forthmore completely in the claims.

Various advantages, aspects and novel features of the presentdisclosure, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof,will be more fully understood from the following description anddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example computer networkenvironment for providing alternative result for an online searchpreviously with no result, in accordance with an example embodiment ofthe disclosure.

FIGS. 2A-2E are each a block diagram that illustrates an example browserwindow displaying a webpage with a search bar, in accordance with anexample embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating example steps for providingalternative result for an online search previously with no result, inaccordance with an example embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

As utilized herein the terms “circuit” and “circuitry” refer to physicalelectronic components (i.e. hardware) and any software and/or firmware(“code”) which may configure the hardware, be executed by the hardware,and/or otherwise be associated with the hardware. As utilized herein,“and/or” means any one or more of the items in the list joined by“and/or”. As an example, “x and/or y” means any element of thethree-element set {(x), (y), (x, y)}. As another example, “x, y, and/orz” means any element of the seven-element set {(x), (y), (z), (x, y),(x, z), (y, z), (x, y, z)}. As utilized herein, the term “exemplary”means serving as a non-limiting example, instance, or illustration. Asutilized herein, the terms “e.g.,” and “for example” set off lists ofone or more non-limiting examples, instances, or illustrations. Asutilized herein, a device/module/circuitry/etc. is “operable” to performa function whenever the device/module/circuitry/etc. comprises thenecessary hardware and code (if any is necessary) to perform thefunction, regardless of whether performance of the function is disabled,or not enabled, by some user-configurable setting.

Certain embodiments of the disclosure can be found in a method andsystem for providing alternative result for an online search previouslywith no result. In various embodiments of the disclosure, a computingdevice (e.g., a host system server) hosting a website of a business maybe operable to receive a first search input comprising a term which issubmitted via a search bar on the website. Upon performing a search,internal to the business, for the received term with no result, thecomputing device may be operable to output information on the no-resultof the search. The computing device may then be operable to perform,using one or more search engines external to the business, a search forthe term. Search results of the search, performed using the one or moresearch engines external to the business, may be analyzed by thecomputing device. Based on a result of the analysis, one or moreparticular character strings related to the term may be identified bythe computing device. The computing device may be operable to generateand store, based on the identifying of the one or more particularcharacter strings, one or more alternative search suggestions. In thisregard, each of the one or more alternative search suggestions willresult in information on an item carried by the business. Uponsubsequently receiving an input comprising at least a portion of theterm entered in the search bar on the website, the computing device maybe operable to output the one or more alternative search suggestions foralternative search consideration.

In an example embodiment of the disclosure, the computing device may beoperable to receive, after the outputting of the one or more alternativesearch suggestions, a second search input comprising the term which issubmitted via the search bar on the website. In such instances,information on a search result according to one of the one or morealternative search suggestions may be outputted by the computing device.

In an example embodiment of the disclosure, the term may comprise astring of alphanumeric characters, and the term may be determined, bythe computing device, as a valid term for search if the string ofalphanumeric characters comprises at least one digit. In this regard,for example, the valid term may be normalized, by the computing device,in compliance with a model number or a part number for searching for amodel or a part of a product.

In an example embodiment of the disclosure, the computing device may beoperable to perform, utilizing one or more methods in natural languageprocessing (NLP), one or more of the analyzing, the identifying and thegenerating. In this regard, a score may be assigned, by the computingdevice, to each of a plurality of character strings identified duringthe analyzing of the search results, and the one or more particularcharacter strings may be identified, by the computing device, based onthe assigned scores.

In an example embodiment of the disclosure, the generating of the one ormore alternative search suggestions may comprise selecting each of theone or more alternative search suggestions based on that acharacteristic of each of the one or more alternative search suggestionsmatches a predetermined characteristic condition. In this regard, thepredetermined characteristic condition may, for example, comprise: (1)the number of the particular character strings in each of the one ormore alternative search suggestions being greater than a certainthreshold and (2) each of the one or more alternative search suggestionscomprising a brand name. In another example embodiment of thedisclosure, the generated one or more alternative search suggestions maybe stored, by the computing device, In a form of autofill index.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example computer networkenvironment for providing alternative result for an online searchpreviously with no result, in accordance with an example embodiment ofthe disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a computer networkenvironment 100. In the computer network environment 100, a processingdevice 20″, illustrated in an example form of a mobile communicationdevice, a processing device 20′ illustrated in an example form of acomputer system, and a processing device 20 illustrated in an exampleschematic form are shown.

Each of these processing devices 20, 20′, 20″ are provided withexecutable instructions to, for example, provide a means for a user toaccess (among other things) a host system server 68 which may compriseone or more host organization websites 70. In this regard, the hostsystem server 68 may be associated with a retailer or business and ahosted organization website 70 may be a public website (e.g., an onlineretail environment or online retail store) of the retailer or business.In some instances, a user may be an employee of the retailer or businesssuch as, for example, a network administrator, a sales associate, acustomer service agent, or other individual who provides product and/orsales related assistance to customers of the retailer or business. Inthis regard, the executable instructions may also provide a mean for theuser (the employee) to be connected to, for example, a product database,an organization's intranet, a supplier database, a website developmentenvironment, etc. In some other instances, a user may be a customer orconsumer of the retailer or business. In this regard, the executableinstructions may also provide a mean for the user (the customer) to beconnected to, for example, a hosted social networking site, a userprofile, a store directory, a sales associate, a customer service agent,etc.

Generally, the computer executable instructions reside in programmodules which may include routines, programs, objects, components, datastructures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Accordingly, the processing devices 20, 20′, 20″illustrated in FIG. 1 may be embodied in any device having the abilityto execute instructions such as, by way of example, a personal computer,mainframe computer, personal-digital assistant (“PDA”), mobile phone,tablet, e-reader, smart phone, or the like. Furthermore, while describedand illustrated in the context of a single processing device 20, 20′,20″, the various tasks described hereinafter may be practiced in adistributed environment having multiple processing devices linked via alocal or wide-area network whereby the executable instructions may beassociated with and/or executed by one or more of multiple processingdevices.

For performing the various tasks in accordance with the executableinstructions, the example processing device 20 includes a processingunit (processor) 22 and a system memory 24 which may be linked via a bus26. Without limitation, the bus 26 may be a memory bus, a peripheralbus, and/or a local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. Asneeded for any particular purpose, the system memory 24 may include readonly memory (ROM) 28 and/or random access memory (RAM) 30. Additionalmemory devices may also be made accessible to the processing device 20by means of, for example, a hard disk drive interface 32, a magneticdisk drive interface 34, and/or an optical disk drive interface 36. Aswill be understood, these devices, which would be linked to the systembus 26, respectively allow for reading from and writing to a hard disk38, reading from or writing to a removable magnetic disk 40, and forreading from or writing to a removable optical disk 42, such as a CD/DVDROM or other optical media. The drive interfaces and their associatedcomputer-readable media allow for the nonvolatile storage ofcomputer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules andother data for the processing device 20. Other types of non-transitorycomputer-readable media that can store data and/or instructions may beused for this same purpose. Examples of such media devices include, butare not limited to, magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digitalvideodisks, Bernoulli cartridges, random access memories, nano-drives,memory sticks, and other read/write and/or read-only memories.

A number of program modules may be stored in one or more of thememory/media devices. For example, a basic input/output system (BIOS)44, containing the basic routines that help to transfer informationbetween elements within the processing device 20, such as duringstart-up, may be stored in ROM 28. Similarly, the RAM 30, hard drive 38,and/or peripheral memory devices may be used to store computerexecutable instructions comprising an operating system 46, one or moreapplications programs 48 (such as a Web browser), other program modules50, and/or program data 52. Still further, computer-executableinstructions may be downloaded to one or more of the processing devices20, 20′, 20″ as needed, for example via a network connection.

To allow a user to enter commands and information into the processingdevice 20, input devices such as a keyboard 54 and/or a pointing device(e.g., a mouse) 56 are provided. While not illustrated, other inputdevices may include a microphone, a joystick, a game pad, a scanner, acamera, touchpad, touch screen, etc. These and other input devices aretypically connected to the processing unit (processor) 22 by means of aperipheral interface 58 which, in turn, is coupled to the bus 26. Inputdevices may be connected to the processor 22 using interfaces such as,for example, a parallel port, game port, FireWire, or a universal serialbus (USB). To view information from the processing device 20, a displaydevice 60 may also be connected to the bus 26 via an interface, such asa video adapter 62. The display device 60 may be, for example a coupledmonitor, an integrated display module, or other suitable type of displaydevice. The display device 60 may comprise, for example, apresence-sensitive screen such as a touchscreen or touch-sensitivescreen. In addition to the display device 60, the processing device 20may also include other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as,for example, speakers, cameras, printers, or other suitable device.

As noted, the processing device 20 may also utilize logical connectionsto one or more remote processing devices, such as the host system server68 having associated data repository 68A. In this regard, while the hostsystem server 68 has been illustrated in the exemplary form of acomputer, the host system server 68 may, like processing device 20, beany type of device having processing capabilities. Again, the hostsystem server 68 need not be implemented as a single device but may beimplemented in a manner such that the tasks performed by the host systemserver 68 are distributed amongst a plurality of processingdevices/databases located at different geographical locations and linkedthrough a communication network. Additionally, the host system server 68may have logical connections to other third party systems (e.g., a thirdparty system 69) via a network 12, such as, for example, the Internet,LAN, MAN, WAN, cellular network, cloud network, enterprise network,virtual private network, wired and/or wireless network, or othersuitable network, and via such connections, will be associated with datarepositories (e.g., a data repository 69A) that are associated with suchother third party systems. Such third party systems may include, withoutlimitation, systems of banking, credit, or other financial institutions,systems of third party providers of goods and/or services, systems ofshipping/delivery companies, media content providers, document storagesystems, etc.

For performing tasks as needed, the host system server 68 may includemany or all of the elements described above relative to the processingdevice 20. For example, the host system server 68 may be operable toimplement an online retail channel of the retailer or business. In thisregard, one or more online stores of the retailer or business may allowcustomers to shop for items and/or services sold by the retailer orbusiness using one or more websites 70 of the retailer or business. Inaddition, the host system server 68 would generally include executableinstructions for, among other things, performing various tasks inaccordance with various example embodiments of the present disclosure.

Communications between the processing device 20 and the host systemserver 68 may be exchanged via a further processing device, such as anetwork router (not shown), that is responsible for network routing.Communications with the network router may be performed via a networkinterface component 73. Thus, within such a networked environment, e.g.,the Internet, World Wide Web, LAN, cloud, or other like type of wired orwireless network, program modules depicted relative to the processingdevice 20, or portions thereof, may be stored in the non-transitorycomputer-readable memory storage device(s) of the host system server 68.

In operation, a computing device such as the host system server 68hosting the website 70 of the retailer or business may be operable toreceive a first search input comprising a term (or a token) which issubmitted via a search bar on the website 70. In this regard, the firstsearch input may be received from a user device, such as the processingdevice 20 associated with a customer, via the network 12, for example.Upon performing a search, internal to the business, for the receivedterm with no result, the computing device may be operable to outputinformation on the no-result of the search to the user device (e.g., theprocessing device 20) via the network 12, for example. The computingdevice may then be operable to perform, using one or more search enginesexternal to the business, a search for the term. Search results of thesearch, performed using the one or more search engines external to thebusiness, may be analyzed by the computing device. Based on a result ofthe analysis, one or more particular character strings related to theterm may be identified by the computing device. The computing device maybe operable to generate and store, based on the identifying of the oneor more particular character strings, one or more alternative searchsuggestions. In this regard, each of the one or more alternative searchsuggestions will result in information on an item (e.g., a product)carried by the business.

Upon subsequently receiving an input comprising at least a portion ofthe term entered in the search bar on the website 70, the computingdevice may be operable to output the one or more alternative searchsuggestions for alternative search consideration. In this regard, theinput, which comprises at least a portion of the term entered in thesearch bar, may be received subsequently from a different user device(e.g., the processing device 20′) associated with a different customeror even from the user device (e.g., the processing device 20) associatedwith the same customer.

FIGS. 2A-2E are each a block diagram that illustrates an example browserwindow displaying a webpage with a search bar, in accordance with anexample embodiment of the disclosure. Referring to FIGS. 2A-2B, 2D-2E,there is shown a user device 201 which presents a browser window 202.The browser window 202 may display a webpage of the website 70. Thewebpage of the website 70 may comprise a search bar 203. The user device201 may be substantially similar to the processing device 20 (or 20′,20″) described with respect to FIG. 1, for example. Referring to FIG.2C, there is shown a computing device 221 which presents a browserwindow 222. The browser window 222 may display a webpage of a searchengine external to the business (described with respect to FIG. 1), andthe webpage of the search engine may comprise a search bar 223. Thecomputing device 221 may be substantially similar to the host systemserver 68 described with respect to FIG. 1, for example.

Referring now to FIGS. 2A-2B. In an example operation, the computingdevice 221 may be operable to receive a first search input comprising aterm 204 which is submitted via the search bar 203 on the webpage of thewebsite 70 presented by the user device 201. Upon performing a search,internal to the business, for the received term 204 with no result(i.e., without a match), the computing device 221 may be operable tooutput information 206 on the no-result of the search, to the userdevice 201 as shown in FIG. 2B.

Referring now to FIG. 2C. In an example operation, after presenting theinformation 206 on no-result of the search to the user device 201, thecomputing device 221 may be operable to perform, using a search engine224 external to the business, a general search for the term 204. In thisregard, the computer device 221 may first be operable to verify anddetermine that the term 204 is a valid term which comprises a singlestring of alphanumeric characters with at least one digit. The term 204may be further normalized (e.g., trimming, case-conversion, etc.), bythe computing device 221, in compliance with a model number or a partnumber for targeting search for a model or a part of a product.

The computing device 221 may be operable to analyze search results 226of the search performed using the external search engine 224. Thecomputing device 221 may be operable to identify, based on a result ofthe analysis, one or more particular character strings related to theterm 204. Based on the identifying of the one or more particularcharacter strings, one or more alternative search suggestions 208 (shownin FIG. 2D) may be generated by the computing device 221. For example,as shown in FIG. 2C, the term 204 may comprise a alphanumeric characterstring “TS1344L”. In such instances, the identified particular characterstrings related to and/or relevant to the term “TS1344L” may comprise,for example, “Compound”, “Miter”, “Saws”, “14-Amp”, “10”, “in.”. In thisregard, the computing device 221 may perform one or more of theanalyzing, the identifying and the generating, utilizing, for example,one or more methods in natural language processing (NLP). The naturallanguage processing (NLP) may enable the computing device 221 toperform, for example, keyword extraction based on a semantic analysis ofa sentence. The one or more NLP methods (or tasks) used for analyzingand/or identifying may comprise part-of-speech (POS), term-positionand/or term-dependency, for example. The one or more alternative searchsuggestions 208 (shown in FIG. 2D) may be generated utilizing the methodof information-retrieval (IR) in NLP, for example.

During the analyzing of the search results 226, the computing device 211may be operable to assign a score to each of a plurality of identifiedcharacter strings. In this regard, the one or more particular characterstrings may be selected and/or identified, by the computing device 221,based on the assigned scores. For example, a character string with ahigh score (e.g., a noun term based on the POS) may be considered as animportant keyword and may be selected as one of the particular characterstrings. For example, a character string which belongs to the subject ofa sentence and is also the last word of the subject phrase may beconsidered more important and hence may be scored higher. For example,in a phrase “XYZ 14-Amp 10 in. Compound Miter Saws”, “Saws”, “Compound”,“Miter” may be considered as keywords, and “XYZ”, “14-Amp”, “10 in.” maybe considered as attribute words. Inside of “10 in.”, “10” is thenumeric value and “in.” is the unit. Based on analyzing of thoselinguistic details, different scores may be assigned to those characterstrings accordingly.

The generating of the one or more alternative search suggestions 208(shown in FIG. 2D) may further comprise selecting each of the one ormore alternative search suggestions 208 based on that a characteristicof each of the one or more alternative search suggestions 208 matches apredetermined characteristic condition. In this regard, for example, thepredetermined characteristic condition may comprise: (1) the number ofthe particular character strings in each of the one or more alternativesearch suggestions 208 being greater than a certain threshold and (2)each of the one or more alternative search suggestions 208 comprising abrand name.

The generated one or more alternative search suggestions 208 (shown inFIG. 208) may be stored, by the computing device 221 for use in futureor subsequent search request(s) from a user device such as the userdevice 201, for example. In this regard, the computing device 221 may beoperable to store the generated one or more alternative searchsuggestions 208 in a form of autofill index, for example, for fetchingcandidate search phrases.

Referring now to FIGS. 2D-2E. In an example operation, upon subsequently(e.g., one hour after receiving of the first search input) receiving aninput comprising at least a portion of the term 204 entered in thesearch bar 203 on the webpage of the website 70, the computing device221 may be operable to output the one or more alternative searchsuggestions 208 for alternative search consideration. In instances whena particular search suggestion such as the search suggestion 209 isselected and submitted by the customer via the user device 201, thecomputing device 221 may be operable to output information 210 on asearch result with a match, according to the selected search suggestion209. However, in some instances, after the outputting of the one or morealternative search suggestions 208 to the user device 201, the customerstill submit the term 204, via the user device 201, for the searchregardless. In such instances, the computing device 221 may be operableto receive, after the outputting of the one or more alternative searchsuggestions 208, a second search input comprising the term 204 which issubmitted via the search bar 203 on the webpage of the website 70. Thecomputing device 221 may then be operable to output information 211 on asearch result according to one of the one or more alternative searchsuggestions 208 (e.g., according to the search suggestion 209). In thisregard, the information 211 may also indicate that no-results were foundfor the term 204 and results for the search suggestion 209 are displayedinstead, for example.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating example steps for providingalternative result for an online search previously with no result, inaccordance with an example embodiment of the disclosure. Referring toFIG. 3, the example steps start at step 301. In step 302, the computingdevice 221 may be operable to receive a first search input comprising aterm 204 which is submitted via the search bar 203 on the webpage of thewebsite 70 presented by the user device 201. In step 303, uponperforming an internal search (internal to the business) for thereceived term 204 with no result (i.e., without a match), the computingdevice 221 may be operable to output information 206 on the no-result ofthe search, to the user device 201. In step 304, the computing device221 may be operable to perform, using one or more external searchengines such as the search engine 224 (external to the business), ageneral search for the term 204. In this regard, the computer device 221may first be operable to verify and determine that the term 204 is avalid term which comprises a single string of alphanumeric characterswith at least one digit. The term 204 may be further normalized (e.g.,trimming, case-conversion, etc.), by the computing device 221, fortargeting search for a model or a part of a product, for example.

In step 305, the computing device 221 may be operable to analyze searchresults 226 of the search performed using the one or more externalsearch engines such as the search engine 224. The analysis may beperformed utilizing, for example, one or more methods in naturallanguage processing (NLP). In step 306, the computing device 221 may beoperable to identify, based on a result of the analysis, one or moreparticular character strings related to the term 204. The identifyingmay be performed utilizing, for example, one or more methods in naturallanguage processing (NLP). In step 307, the computing device 221 may beoperable to generate and store, based on the identifying of the one ormore particular character strings, one or more alternative searchsuggestions 208, where each of the one or more alternative searchsuggestions 208 will result in information on an item carried or sold bythe business. The generating may be performed utilizing, for example, aninformation-retrieval (IR) method in NLP. In step 308, upon subsequentlyreceiving an input comprising at least a portion of the term 204 enteredin the search bar 203 on the webpage of the website 70, the computingdevice 221 may be operable to output the one or more alternative searchsuggestions 208 for alternative search consideration. The example stepsmay proceed to the end step 309.

In various embodiments of the disclosure, a computing device 221 (e.g.,a host system server 68) hosting a website 70 of a business may beoperable to receive a first search input comprising a term 204 which issubmitted via a search bar 203 on the website 70. Upon performing asearch, internal to the business, for the received term 204 with noresult, the computing device 221 may be operable to output information206 on the no-result of the search. The computing device 221 may then beoperable to perform, using one or more search engines 224 external tothe business, a search for the term 204. Search results 226 of thesearch, performed using the one or more search engines 224 external tothe business, may be analyzed by the computing device 221. Based on aresult of the analysis, one or more particular character strings relatedto the term 204 may be identified by the computing device 221. Thecomputing device 221 may be operable to generate and store, based on theidentifying of the one or more particular character strings, one or morealternative search suggestions 208. In this regard, each of the one ormore alternative search suggestions 208 will result in information on anitem carried by the business. Upon subsequently receiving an inputcomprising at least a portion of the term 204 entered in the search bar203 on the website 70, the computing device 221 may be operable tooutput the one or more alternative search suggestions 208 foralternative search consideration.

The computing device 221 may be operable to receive, after theoutputting of the one or more alternative search suggestions 208, asecond search input comprising the term 204 which is submitted via thesearch bar 203 on the website 70. In such instances, information 211 ona search result according to one (e.g., a search suggestion 209) of theone or more alternative search suggestions 208 may be outputted by thecomputing device 221.

The term 204 may comprise a string of alphanumeric characters, and theterm 204 may be determined, by the computing device 221, as a valid termfor search if the string of alphanumeric characters comprises at leastone digit. In this regard, for example, the valid term may benormalized, by the computing device 221, in compliance with a modelnumber or a part number for searching for a model or a part of aproduct.

The computing device 221 may be operable to perform, utilizing one ormore methods in natural language processing (NLP), one or more of theanalyzing, the identifying and the generating. In this regard, a scoremay be assigned, by the computing device, 221 to each of a plurality ofcharacter strings identified during the analyzing of the search results,and the one or more particular character strings may be identified, bythe computing device 221, based on the assigned scores.

The generating of the one or more alternative search suggestions 208 maycomprise selecting each of the one or more alternative searchsuggestions 208 based on that a characteristic of each of the one ormore alternative search suggestions 208 matches a predeterminedcharacteristic condition. In this regard, the predeterminedcharacteristic condition may, for example, comprise: (1) the number ofthe particular character strings in each of the one or more alternativesearch suggestions 208 being greater than a certain threshold and (2)each of the one or more alternative search suggestions 208 comprising abrand name. The generated one or more alternative search suggestions 208may be stored, by the computing device 221, In a form of autofill index.

Other embodiments of the disclosure may provide a non-transitorycomputer readable medium and/or storage medium, and/or a non-transitorymachine readable medium and/or storage medium, having stored thereon, amachine code and/or a computer program having at least one code sectionexecutable by a machine and/or a computer, thereby causing the machineand/or computer to perform the steps as described herein for providingalternative result for an online search previously with no result.

Accordingly, aspects of the present disclosure may be realized inhardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software. Thepresent disclosure may be realized in a centralized fashion in at leastone computer system or in a distributed fashion where different elementsare spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind ofcomputer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methodsdescribed herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware andsoftware may be a general-purpose computer system with a computerprogram that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computersystem such that it carries out the methods described herein.

Aspects of the present disclosure may also be embedded in a computerprogram product, which comprises all the features enabling theimplementation of the methods described herein, and which when loaded ina computer system is able to carry out these methods. Computer programin the present context means any expression, in any language, code ornotation, of a set of instructions intended to cause a system having aninformation processing capability to perform a particular functioneither directly or after either or both of the following: a) conversionto another language, code or notation; b) reproduction in a differentmaterial form.

While the present disclosure has been described with reference tocertain embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the artthat various changes may be made and equivalents may be substitutedwithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition,many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation ormaterial to the teachings of the present disclosure without departingfrom its scope. Therefore, it is intended that the present disclosurenot be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but that thepresent disclosure will include all embodiments falling within the scopeof the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: in a computing devicehosting a website of a business: receiving a first search inputcomprising a term which is submitted via a search bar on the website;upon performing a search, internal to the business, for the receivedterm with no result, outputting information on the no-result of thesearch; performing, using one or more search engines external to thebusiness, a search for the term; analyzing search results of the searchperformed using the one or more search engines external to the business;identifying, based on a result of the analysis, one or more particularcharacter strings related to the term; generating and storing, based onthe identifying of the one or more particular character strings, one ormore alternative search suggestions, wherein each of the one or morealternative search suggestions will result in information on an itemcarried by the business; and upon subsequently receiving an inputcomprising at least a portion of the term entered in the search bar onthe website, outputting the one or more alternative search suggestionsfor alternative search consideration.
 2. The method according to claim1, comprising: receiving, after the outputting of the one or morealternative search suggestions, a second search input comprising theterm which is submitted via the search bar on the website; andoutputting information on a search result according to one of the one ormore alternative search suggestions.
 3. The method according to claim 1,wherein the term comprises a string of alphanumeric characters.
 4. Themethod according to claim 3, comprising determining that the term is avalid term for search if the string of alphanumeric characters comprisesat least one digit.
 5. The method according to claim 4, comprisingnormalizing the determined valid term in compliance with a model numberor a part number for searching for a model or a part of a product. 6.The method according to claim 1, comprising performing, utilizing one ormore methods in natural language processing (NLP), one or more of theanalyzing, the identifying, and the generating.
 7. The method accordingto claim 1, comprising: assigning a score to each of a plurality ofcharacter strings identified during the analyzing of the search results;and Identifying the one or more particular character strings based onthe assigned scores.
 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein thegenerating of the one or more alternative search suggestions comprisesselecting each of the one or more alternative search suggestions basedon that a characteristic of each of the one or more alternative searchsuggestions matches a predetermined characteristic condition.
 9. Themethod according to claim 8, wherein the predetermined characteristiccondition comprises: the number of the particular character strings ineach of the one or more alternative search suggestions being greaterthan a certain threshold; and each of the one or more alternative searchsuggestions comprising a brand name.
 10. The method according to claim1, comprising storing the one or more alternative search suggestions Ina form of autofill index.
 11. A system, comprising: one or moreprocessors for use in a computing device hosting a website of abusiness, the one or more processors being operable to: receive a firstsearch input comprising a term which is submitted via a search bar onthe website; upon performing a search, internal to the business, for thereceived term with no result, output information on the no-result of thesearch; perform, using one or more search engines external to thebusiness, a search for the term; analyze search results of the searchperformed using the one or more search engines external to the business;identify, based on a result of the analysis, one or more particularcharacter strings related to the term; generate and store, based on theidentifying of the one or more particular character strings, one or morealternative search suggestions, wherein each of the one or morealternative search suggestions will result in information on an itemcarried by the business; and upon subsequently receiving an inputcomprising at least a portion of the term entered in the search bar onthe website, output the one or more alternative search suggestions foralternative search consideration.
 12. The system according to claim 11,wherein the one or more processors are operable to: receive, after theoutputting of the one or more alternative search suggestions, a secondsearch input comprising the term which is submitted via the search baron the website; and output information on a search result according toone of the one or more alternative search suggestions.
 13. The systemaccording to claim 11, wherein the term comprises a string ofalphanumeric characters.
 14. The system according to claim 11, whereinthe one or more processors are operable to perform, utilizing one ormore methods in natural language processing (NLP), one or more of theanalyzing, the identifying and the generating.
 15. The system accordingto claim 11, wherein the one or more processors are operable to storethe one or more alternative search suggestions In a form of autofillindex
 16. A non-transitory computer readable medium having storedthereon, a computer program having at least one code section, the atleast one code section being executable by a computer for causing thecomputer to perform steps comprising: in a computing device hosting awebsite of a business: receiving a first search input comprising a termwhich is submitted via a search bar on the website; upon performing asearch, internal to the business, for the received term with no result,outputting information on the no-result of the search; performing, usingone or more search engines external to the business, a search for theterm; analyzing search results of the search performed using the one ormore search engines external to the business; identifying, based on aresult of the analysis, one or more particular character strings relatedto the term; generating and storing, based on the identifying of the oneor more particular character strings, one or more alternative searchsuggestions, wherein each of the one or more alternative searchsuggestions will result in information on an item carried by thebusiness; and upon subsequently receiving an input comprising at least aportion of the term entered in the search bar on the website, outputtingthe one or more alternative search suggestions for alternative searchconsideration.
 17. The non-transitory computer readable media accordingto claim 16, wherein the at least one code section comprises code for:receiving, after the outputting of the one or more alternative searchsuggestions, a second search input comprising the term which issubmitted via the search bar on the website; and outputting informationon a search result according to one of the one or more alternativesearch suggestions.
 18. The non-transitory computer readable mediaaccording to claim 16, wherein the term comprises a string ofalphanumeric characters.
 19. The non-transitory computer readable mediaaccording to claim 16, wherein the at least one code section comprisescode for performing, utilizing one or more methods in natural languageprocessing (NLP), one or more of the analyzing, the identifying and thegenerating.
 20. The non-transitory computer readable media according toclaim 16, wherein the at least one code section comprises code forstoring the one or more alternative search suggestions In a form ofautofill index.